Hypothetical Questions
by Nea Poulain
Summary: Zuko and Katara had become old sea wolfs, war heros... But, some times, the "What if...?" comes into their lifes.


**Disclaimer**: Avatar: The last airbender belongs to Michael Dante Di Martino and Bryan Konietzko, and, obviously, Nickodelon.

_The action in this one-shot occurres in some point between Book 3 and Book 4._

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><p><strong>Hypotetical Questions<strong>

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><p>The well-known voice surprised him while he took care of the dragon. The creature didn't like that cold weather. He got it: dragons were made for tropical wether. But he only planned to stay in the South Water Tribe a few days.<p>

"Hi, Zuko."

When he looked, he found Katara. It was unbelievable how much they had aged, despite the fastness of their lifes, trying to fix a chaotic world. But, with Kuvira restoring order in the Earth Kingdom, all seemed just fine and normal.

"You're the first person that doesn't called me 'Lord Zuko' or doesn't try to kiss the ground I touch," was the first thing that came out of his mouth. "Hi, Katara."

The didn't see each other in a while. They didn't need it. Every time they met again looked like the time hadn't passed —even though the py had all evidence against them. But time had passed, untiringly and had made them sample spectators of the important things that was happening in the world.

"I heard you planned to cross the portal to the Spirits' World."

"Yes, yes...," he answered. "Korra said me my uncle Iroh was in the Spirits' World. I just want to talk with him." He scratched behind his ear, nervously. "Say him a few things."

Katara shrugged her shoulders. She understood perfectly why Zuko wanted to meet Iroh one last time; it had to do with goodbyes, closures, with end an unfinished issue long time ago. She didn't need to say anuything. She and Zuko had come to that point in where the had a few thing to say each other, only, they understand the other in a perfect way. People loved them, but they really was simple spectators of others' wars. It had been said: war never end, the only thing that change is the enemy.

"How's Izumi?" She asked.

"Fine, trying to rule the Fire Nation," he answered. "And your children?"

"Fixing the world... Like we used to," she sighed. "That ended a long time ago."

"Do you miss it?" He asked, intrigued. "I don't. Every time I try to fight again my back remember me that I'm no exactly a youngster anymore."

Katara laughed, she surely was passing trough the same. But she hadn't tried to fight the last years. She had been backstage all that time, being a healer.

"I don't miss being in danger all the time, definetively," she admitted. "But I kinda miss the adventure. That was good."

"Well, it served for something, doesnt it?" He started. "We made the world a better place."

Katara laughed again.

"Are you sure? Look around."

No. No, he wasn't. Amon and the equalitarians had caused severe trouble in Republic City, and then the Civil War between the Water Tribes, not forgetting the Armonic Convergence and riots in the Earth Kingdom. All put togheter seemed like craziness. But all had gone well in the Fire Nation. He had done something really well.

"No, not al all," he answered at last. Only the enemy changed, all the people was right. "The thins that count is that we tried, isn't it?"

"Yes, we tried. We did a lot of stuff... We saved the Noth Water Tribe of a Fire Nation invasion."

Zuko coughed.

"You did that. I was... Trying to kidnap Aang."

"Right..." Katara scratched her chest, thinking. "I guess there are al lot of years between. In Ba Sing Se..."

"I was in the contrary side making the worst mistake of my life."

"Duh, what really matters is that you fixed that later. Your helped Aang to defeat Ozai. And prevented him to burn the Earth Kingdom."

In what world that had been a good plan? An entire continent burned just left desolation, despite natural resource problems. Seeing that in perspective, it hadn't been only really terrifying, also an incredibly stupid desicion.

"You threatened me to death while I was trying."

"Just details—" she shrugged her shoulders. "You wasn't troustness."

"Just details?"

"Yes, a bunch of years has passed." She shrugged her shoulders, again. "Now, there are just details."

"Just curiosity... Would you actually have done it?" Zuko asked.

"Probably not," she answered. "Unless you... You know... Would have betrayed Aang again."

"That would have been incredibly stupid, even to me."

Katara took the importance of all that things.

"I used to think your brain turned off when you took all that bad life decisions, you know..." They were still standing in front of Zuko's dragon. "Thank the spirits that got fixed with the time."

"Well, you saved me a little later..." He pointed out. Plantar a had saved him a lot of times, but he remembered one especially. "Azula's lightning."

Katara smiled wit the remembrance.

"Right, the lightning," she whispered. "Not all days a boy gets a lighting for you," she said at last. "It's kinda... Cute."

"Cute? Really? Katara, I almost die!"

"But you didn't, you are completely alive," she said, "and yor are and old sea wolf, as me. The entire world kiss the ground we touch. Can you believe it?"

"I still don't like it."

"It has its advantaged, nobody argues what you say," Katara pointed. It was true, nobody corrected him, and nobody argued what he thought.

"A few, yes, but—" However, he kept thinking in other issue: "Was the lighting cute?" He asked again.

"The lighting, no. The fact that you had standee in front of it in order to save me, yes," corrected Katara. Cute, only the age made Katara thought those things. Fifty years earlier, she had said any other thing, least 'cute', surely. "At least that was a girls of the tribe said. That if one boy did it for her, she would married him immediately."

He laughed, but then, a question kept trapped in his mind.

"And you would have—? Just saying, it's an hypothetical question... Without Aang between— Yes, that... I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked it..." He hit himself in the face, the things he were saying makes no sense. But Katara understood it.

And she laughed.

"I don't know, Zuko, we're too old."

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><p><strong>This is an attempt of writing some realistic Zutara placed in The Legend of Korra, because I have seen really creepy things. For god's sake! They are in their late eightiesearly nineties. Katara is right: they are too old. In the future maybe I try writing something with this two younger ands obviously, more romantic.**

_Andrea Poulain_

_December 14, 2014_


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